Home ownership in Halifax climbs 11 per cent over 40 years

By REMO ZACCAGNA BUSINESS REPORTERPublished December 30, 2011 - 7:35pm

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The home ownership rate in Halifax has steadily increased over the last four decades, according to a new report.

Data included in the ninth annual edition of the Canadian Housing Observer, released by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., shows the rate of home ownership — defined as people with a mortgage or who have become mortgage-free — was at 64 per cent in Halifax in the 2006 census year, compared to 53.2 per cent in 1971.

The provincial rate has been relatively flat over the same period, at 72 per cent in 2006, up from 71.2 per cent in 1971.

About 37 per cent of those classified as Halifax homeowners by CMHC owned their property without a mortgage in 2006, the year with the most recent available data.

Those numbers are relatively close to the national averages of a 68.4 per cent ownership rate, with 42 per cent of those without mortgages.

The number of Halifax homeowners under 35 years old in 2006 was 12 per cent, the same as the national average.

“We’re very diverse and spread out to all the different sectors and industries within the business world, and I think that’s what makes us very similar to Canada, as a whole, (with respect to) the national averages,” said Matthew Gilmore, senior market analyst at the CMHC Atlantic Business Centre.

Of the 37 municipalities listed by CMHC, the highest rate of home ownership was in Cape Breton, at 75 per cent. Cape Breton Regional Municipality was the only municipal area to have more than 50 per cent of its homeowners without mortgages.

Those numbers are normal for an area that has an average home price hovering around $150,000, compared with almost $270,000 in Halifax, Gilmore said.

“It’s just a more rural city compared to Halifax, it’s smaller scale, the population is a little more spread out.

“With less expensive housing, you’re going to have a little bit higher home ownership rates; with less expensive housing, you’re going to be more likely to see people pay off their mortgages a little bit faster.”

The median after-tax income of Halifax households was $49,300 in 2009, below the national average of $52,000

Another indicator showed that seven per cent of all Halifax homeowners have condominiums, below the national average of 11 per cent and far below other cities such as Victoria, Vancouver, Edmonton and Toronto.

In 2010, more than one-third of all housing starts across Canada were condominiums, up from 29 per cent the previous year, with Vancouver leading the charge. More than 50 per cent of all 2010 housing starts in Vancouver were condominiums, followed closely by Montreal, which was at 50 per cent.

However, according to Gilmore, less than 10 per cent of all housing starts in Halifax over the last five years have been condominiums, compared with as much as 75 per cent in some other cities over the same period.

“What are we building instead? We’re building rental units, and we’re building rental units because they’re very competitive in Halifax.

“Builders are still able to put together a business case to build a 100-unit building and offer very high-end finishings, materials, details, large units, and still keep the price well below the carrying cost of a condo, and that keeps it very competitive and makes the apartment industry very attractive in Halifax.”

The Canadian Housing Observer is put out annually and examines market trends by looking at key housing indicators such as starts, sales, housing prices, rents and rental vacancy rates. This year’s report focused on the national housing financing sector, household indebtedness, seniors housing and social housing.

The CMHC report also indicated that housing-related spending accounted for more than 20 per cent of the national gross domestic product, contributing about $330 billion to the Canadian economy in 2010 — up 7.1 per cent from $308 billion in 2009.